Every PDF contains metadata — the author's name, the software used to create it, creation and modification timestamps, document history, and sometimes comments or revision information. Before sharing a PDF externally, removing this metadata protects your privacy.
Standard PDF metadata includes: Author (your name from Office profile), Creator (software used, e.g., "Microsoft Word 16.0"), Producer (PDF conversion tool), CreationDate and ModDate (timestamps), Title and Subject (document properties), and sometimes custom XMP metadata with company information.
In Adobe Reader, go to File → Properties → Description tab. In Chrome, open the PDF and press Ctrl+I or right-click → Document Properties. This shows all embedded metadata before you decide to clean it.
Go to pdfeditor.onl/repair-pdf. Upload your PDF and run the repair/flatten operation. The tool re-serializes the document — creating a clean output that strips many metadata fields including creation software, author, and document history.
Tip: Re-serialization is the simplest approach for bulk metadata removal. For precise control (removing specific fields while keeping others), Adobe Acrobat Pro's Document Properties editor offers field-by-field control.
After downloading the cleaned PDF, check Document Properties again in Chrome or Adobe Reader. The Author, Creator, and Producer fields should be empty or show the generic tool name rather than your personal information.
PDF compression re-encodes image data but generally preserves document metadata. The Repair/Flatten tool is more effective at stripping metadata than compression alone.
Standard document properties (Author, Creator, etc.) are cleaned. Custom XMP metadata, embedded ICC color profiles, and some structured data fields may persist. For complete metadata scrubbing, use a dedicated PDF metadata editor.